Are We There Yet?

French Protests Honor Beheading Victim

Thousands of people gathered in France over the weekend in support of Samuel Paty, a middle-school teacher who was beheaded on Friday after showing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils. The perpetrator, an 18-year-old Islamist refugee of Chechen origin, was shot and killed by police minutes after the incident. Eleven people have been arrested so far as part of an investigation into the attack, which, according to French President Emmanuel Macron, bore the hallmarks of an “Islamist terrorist attack.”

More: A trial is currently underway in Paris over a 2015 assault on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which resulted in the deaths of 12 people. The attack was carried out by two Islamist gunmen over a series of cartoons the magazine published depicting the Prophet Muhammad -- the same cartoons Paty showed his pupils.

Israel & Bahrain Establish Diplomatic Relations

Israel and Bahrain signed an official agreement to establish diplomatic relations between the two nations on Sunday. The move comes one month after a historic White House ceremony where the UAE and Bahrain initially agreed to normalize relations with Israel as part of a U.S.-brokered deal.

UN Arms Embargo On Iran Expires

A comprehensive UN arms embargo on Iran, first imposed in 2007 and later expanded in 2010, expired yesterday. The UN Security Council in August rejected the U.S.’s request to extend the embargo, which barred Iran from selling or purchasing foreign weapons such as tanks or fighter jets.

More: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected the expiration on Sunday, saying the U.S. “is prepared to use its domestic authorities to sanction any individual or entity” that breaches the embargo.

Coca-Cola Picks Up The Tab

Coca-Cola officially retired Tab, its first-ever diet soda brand, on Friday. Initially released in 1963, Tab became a pop-culture icon in the 1970s and early 1980s before losing market share after the release of Diet Coke.

More: The company’s move is part of a broader restructuring approach -- Coca-Cola announced plans to cut its 500 brands by more than half in July.

Insert Token To Play

Atari announced on Friday that it will sell $1M worth of Atari Tokens, its new cryptocurrency, on the Bitcoin.com Exchange starting October 29th. The sale is scheduled one month before the expected release of Atari VCS, the company’s first video game console in more than 20 years.

More: The currency can be used to buy games in the Atari VCS online store, and Atari hopes to eventually integrate it throughout the entire gaming industry.

Shots, Shots, Shots

• Pfizer announced a timetable for reaching key milestones in its vaccine development on Friday. The company said it could apply for FDA emergency use authorization of its vaccine by late November if its Phase 3 trial data (due this month) is positive.
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reached a deal with CVS Health and Walgreens to administer coronavirus vaccines free-of-charge to the elderly and staff in long-term care facilities.

More: Last Friday was the deadline for U.S. state health officials to submit vaccine distribution plans to the federal government.

📚 Bonus Read: The average FICO credit score hit a new record high during the pandemic. Dig deeper.

Mowing The Extra Mile

Last week, 83-year-old Prince Pinkney of Fort Lauderdale, FL, was mowing the lawn with his wife, Rebecca, when he started to feel the effects of heatstroke. The overheated Prince, whose leg had previously been weakened by a stroke, suddenly slipped and fell as his leg gave out. Although Rebecca attempted to hold her husband up by his arm, she could not prevent him from tumbling to the ground.

Upon seeing Prince and Rebecca struggling to stand back up, a passerby called the local Fire Rescue crew, who went above and beyond to help the elderly couple. After administering first aid to Prince to address his heatstroke, the rescue crew members took up the octogenarian’s mower and finished cutting the grass. Once the mowing was complete, the friendly first responders bid farewell to Prince, a Vietnam War veteran, with reverent salutes.

Growing Into His Own

In February 2019, retired fisherman Gerald Stratford of Oxfordshire, England, started a Twitter account to discuss gardening with a small group of friends. The 71-year-old, who enjoys a quiet life in his small town, is a self-proclaimed “fanatical vegetable grower” and has won several vegetable-growing competitions for his hearty and plentiful produce, regularly contributing to his local garden club.

In May of this year, Gerald’s wholesome Twitter account went viral after tweeting a picture of himself proudly displaying his most recent crop of potatoes. Gerald – who donates the vegetables he does not cook and eat himself to friends, family, and a local nursing home – has now been dubbed the “vegetable king,” garnering more than 160,000 followers on the social media platform.

Make No ‘Missed Steak’

When a stray orange tabby cat named Steak was first rescued from the streets of Los Angeles by the Best Friends Animal Society, he was suffering from scabies – a painful skin condition caused by mites. Although the 16-pound feline was quickly treated for the ailment by the California-based animal shelter, his problems continued as he experienced several more medical issues and even a failed adoption.

Nevertheless, Steak positively impacted the staff at the animal society, remaining happy and gentle throughout the entire ordeal. Eventually, former staff member Diane Barber offered to foster the forlorn feline, featuring him on her Facebook page to catch her friends’ attention. Finally, Diane’s friend Doug Parker of Houston, TX, decided to adopt the transient animal, prompting Diane to drive 1,500 miles from Los Angeles to deliver Steak to his forever home.